True Colors
by ficnic
Summary: AU. Standing up for what's right has its risks - and its rewards.


Disclaimer: I do not own anything ATWT does.

Notes: Written from seajellybaby's prompt _standing their ground_.

* * *

><p>"If you know what's good for you, you'll drop this bullshit."<p>

Luke gritted his teeth, staring down the attempt at intimidation with more outward confidence than he felt inside. "We have every right to hold this event on campus. The LGBT community isn't going to be bullied by cowards like you. We _won't _back down."

"Then you'll pay the price-"

"What the hell?"

A new voice cut in, and Luke cringed, recognizing it immediately. Five seconds ago, he'd silently prayed for someone to happen upon the alley; to spot the two men harassing him, and intervene. And now, that prayer had been answered in the cruelest of fashions with the appearance of Noah Mayer.

Just one more homophobe from the Oakdale U baseball team.

"Noah!" Carsten - the taller of Luke's tormentors - greeted his teammate. "Great timing – you can help us teach the little fag a lesson."

Luke imagined Noah would be only too happy to help. He bit his lip from the inside. He was _not _going to cry, dammit – at least not in front of these bigots.

* * *

><p>This confrontation outside Yo's was the perfect end to an abysmal day, really. It had kicked off this morning, when Luke met up with Maddie and Casey at Al's. It turned out that Maddie had invited a classmate who'd caught her eye to join them at breakfast.<p>

As Luke waited for the others with Maddie, he looked forward to meeting Noah Mayer. He wanted to see for himself if the baseball player Mads had been crushing on in her Psychology class was worth her attentions. Luke was protective of his friend; she was really like another sister to him.

Luke was not at all prepared for his own reaction, however, when the mystery man arrived. His striking blue eyes lit up as he spotted Maddie, greeting her with a warm hug. He then turned to Luke, his hand extended in introduction. With Luke's instantly frozen brain flying on auto-pilot, he accepted the handshake – and felt an electric jolt that not only kick-started his brain, but spurred reactions in other, more embarrassing places.

At least Noah hadn't noticed, as far as Luke could tell. The tall, dark-haired heartthrob sat next to Maddie at the booth. Despite Luke's butterflies at his proximity across the table from the man, Noah's easygoing friendliness relaxed Luke, and soon the three students were sharing laughs across their breakfast.

In the back of his mind, of course, Luke rued the fact that at least in Oakdale, the good ones were always _straight_. Still, he resolved to bury his crush on the guy, and be happy that Maddie had found such a catch. That was how he felt until Casey showed up, anyway.

"You're late," Luke reminded as his friend plopped into the booth beside him.

"Aww, I'm sorry, Cupcake," Casey quipped in return, impishly planting a kiss on Luke's cheek to further the joke.

Luke but couldn't help but join in Maddie's laughter at their friend's goofiness. But when Luke looked at Noah, the guy wasn't laughing. He wasn't even smiling.

He _was_, however, staring at Luke. Feeling unsettled, Luke watched as Maddie introduced Casey, and the two men shook hands. Still, Noah's smile hadn't returned, and Luke understood.

_Dammit_.

Luke had been all but ready to stamp his seal of approval onto Noah. But there was no other explanation for it. The handsome hunk was also an ugly homophobe. He would have to go.

The group finished breakfast, but it was an awkward, uncomfortable affair. Casey gamely kept trying to engage Noah in the conversation, but the most he got in return were some nods and mmm-hmms. Maddie looked at a complete loss as to what had gone wrong, and Luke could feel her disappointment.

Thankfully, Noah had class first, and the breakfast came crawling to a merciful end. He politely thanked Maddie for the invite, and told the other boys it had been nice meeting them. No one believed him.

On the heels of Noah's exit, Casey made his own, claiming an emergency library visit to study up for a quiz. Luke knew better; he didn't think Casey could find the Oakdale U library if his life depended on it. Luke knew Casey was clearing out so Luke could console Maddie about the asshole she'd liked.

"Luke, I don't even know what happened," Maddie said, shaking her head. "It started off so well, too. We were all having such a good time!"

"That was before Noah knew he was having a good time with a gay guy," Luke answered in disgust.

"What?" Maddie thought back to Casey's arrival. "Oh my God… do you really think that's what it was?"

"I saw his face when Casey kissed me," Luke replied. "He was _not _amused."

Maddie dropped her forehead into her hands. "Oh, Luke, I'm so sorry! If I'd had _any _idea he was like that, I never would've invited him."

"I know that," Luke agreed. "And I'm sorry too, Mads. Actually, I _really_ am. It's a crime that such a jerk gets a body like _that_."

Maddie gasped, then erupted into laughter, which Luke joined. Pretty soon, the two of them were joking about the better uses each could have found for such a body. When they parted, both felt better, despite their mutual disappointment about Noah's true colors.

* * *

><p>As Noah approached now, Luke couldn't miss the stark anger in his face. When Carsten and Rick had followed a departing Luke into the alley, promptly cornering him, Luke had been worried. Still, he'd thought if he could strike quickly with one good punch, he could use the element of surprise to make a run for it.<p>

With Noah's arrival, even that smallest of hopes evaporated. There was no way he could escape the three of them and make it back to the safety of the club. Luke's eyes darted around, looking for any sign of passersby - or for any object he might use as a weapon.

"What lesson?"

Noah stood in front of them now, his expression a frightening hybrid of utter disgust, and barely-leashed rage.

"The little freak was spreading his gay-germs all over Yo's. Look at this," Rick grabbed the stack of papers from Luke's hands, shoving them at Noah. "He was in there badgering everybody to sign his petition for an OU queerfest!"

Noah looked down at the forms, which gave Luke a small measure of satisfaction. Before being detained by Dumb and Dumber, he'd had tremendous success gathering support for a proposed LGBT artsfest at OU. When Reg had asked him to circulate the petition, Luke had been excited to take part. Now, he was at least glad that while these blockhead jocks would never admit it, they couldn't deny the tangible support for the effort, thanks to pages and pages full of student signatures.

"That's funny," Noah replied, his tone oddly calm, in contrast to the tension in his face.

"Yeah, can you imagine, a whole weekend of fairies on parade all over campus? What a freak show!" Carsten laughed, a sharp, buffoonish sound that somehow perfectly befitted his Neanderthal personna.

"No," Noah answered, surprising Luke by returning the petitions to him. "What I meant was, it _says _'Artsfest'. It's just funny, because I thought you could read."

Carsten's braying slowly sputtered to a halt as he processed Noah's words. "Shit, it's a good thing you're the team's best pitcher, because you're really stupid. LGBT means _fag_, moron."

"Oh," Noah said, nodding his head. "Thanks for clearing that up. I thought it meant Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. That's why I put it on the petition."

Luke couldn't have judged with certainty how long the four of them stood in that alley as the implications of Noah's statement sank in. It had to have been mere seconds, but felt like an eternity to Luke, whose mind was reeling. _Noah created this petition?_

The Cro-Magnon twins took even longer to get their bearings. Finally, Rick addressed Noah. "You're shitting us, right?"

"No, I'm not. I'm actually pretty proud of this. It took me an hour to figure out how to get the title in rainbow text."

Luke stared on in disbelief at the scene he was no longer the focus of. Once the idiots comprehended that Noah wasn't kidding, Carsten looked like his head would explode. "What the fuck, Mayer? I thought you came from Missouri, not San Francisco. You don't have to make nice with the gay boys here."

"I do if I want to date," Noah volleyed back without hesitation.

Luke's already wide eyes expanded to saucer proportions at _that _revelation. He thought back to their breakfast, trying to pinpoint what he'd clearly missed then. It just didn't make sense. They had gotten along terrifically until Noah realized he was gay. So what the hell was going on?

Carsten stepped away from Luke, getting up in Noah's face instead. "You had _better _be kidding. We don't want any fags on the team-"

"It doesn't really matter what you want," Noah cut in matter-of-factly, his voice still the epitome of control. "Even you said it – I'm the star pitcher. You're both second-string walk-ons. If anybody on the team's dispensable – it isn't me."

An infuriated Rick took a step towards Noah, his balled-up fists signaling his intent. Unthinkingly, Luke shot a hand out, grabbing Rick by the arm to impede him. The jock's head whipped around, his rage now directed at Luke.

"He has a point," Luke quickly stammered, nodding his head towards Noah. "I don't know much about baseball, but I'm pretty sure the coach would kick anyone off the squad for attacking the team's best player."

Rick seethed, while Carsten advanced on Luke once more. "But the coach won't give a damn what we do to _you_," he spat out, raising his fist – which was promptly caught by Noah.

"I'm gonna make this really simple," Noah addressed Carsten. "If you touch him, I'll kill you."

All three men looked at Noah then, shocked both by his words, and the fact they were said with the same deadly calm – as if they weren't a threat, so much as simple fact.

"Fuck, Mayer," Carsten jerked his hand from Noah's grasp. "There's plenty of other fags. I'd hate for you to get your pitching arm broken for this one. There's no way you could take both me and Rick in a fight, even with your fairy friend."

Noah feigned mulling over the threat. "The thing is – my dad was Special-Ops. He wanted me to be able to defend myself against stupid fucks like you. And he taught me _everything_, in case I ever had to resort to extreme measures."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rick looked unimpressed.

"It means, I know how to defend myself in any way necessary. It _means_," Noah glared hard at Rick, then at Carsten, "I'm trained to _kill_."

Noah's eyes locked with Carsten's, the challenge clear. Long, tense moments passed while the air itself waited for either man to back down. Finally, one did, as Carsten blinked, and took a step back, unwilling to risk finding out if Noah was serious.

He sure as hell _sounded _serious.

"Whatever," Carsten snapped, beginning to walk backwards in what was intended to look like a casual exit. All present knew better; it was a retreat. "Have fun with your _girlfriend_, fag."

Rick joined his fellow bigot's exit, unprepared to take on Noah and Luke alone. When the two had rounded the corner and disappeared, Noah turned to Luke, his face a picture of concern. "Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"

Noah reached out to touch Luke's shoulder. At the now-familiar shock of awareness the contact caused, Luke abruptly stepped away. Misinterpreting, Noah held up both hands in a non-threatening gesture.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, Luke," he assured. "I know I was an ass this morning, and I apologize for that. Maybe you'll let me make it up to you?"

"I think you just did," Luke said in wonderment. He hadn't backed away from Noah in fear. Not fear for his safety, anyway.

Unbelievably, standing in a dark alley with Noah Mayer, Luke felt the safest he could ever remember. If Luke was afraid of anything right now, it was that his knees would buckle in the presence of this man. Watching Noah fearlessly take on those two oafs to protect _him _had spurred a swirl of emotions in Luke's stomach, including awe, gratitude, and if he was being perfectly honest – excitement.

All right, if he was being _perfectly_ honest, that last one might be more accurately labeled _arousal_. But he wasn't willing to admit _that _to himself just yet.

"But I had a vested interest to help in this case. I had to save my petitions, after all."

"True," Luke agreed, though he could tell Noah was teasing him. Just like those first few wonderful minutes this morning, before everything had gone so completely wrong. "I'm sorry, I'm just… I don't get it! _You _made these? Why?"

"In the film club, we've been discussing the lack of representation in OU's student films, and how we could encourage students to consider including more diversity in their screenplays. As we talked, we figured out the problem is more widespread than just the films we're making. It's the same all over campus, whether it's painting, theater, writing – you name it. The stories being told are almost always about straight white people. Which, yeah, probably reflects Oakdale off-campus to an extent, but isn't representative of the student body at all. This festival's our first attempt to change that. If all goes well, we want to coordinate the next festival to coincide with Black History Month, and obviously feature the art of… Oh my God. I'm rambling," Noah realized.

"Oh my God," Luke concurred. "You're a dork!"

"I am!" Noah couldn't deny it. "You say that like it's a _good _thing."

"Considering I thought you were an asshole this morning, a socially-conscious dork is a huge step up," Luke teased, beaming at his fetching savior. "But I have to ask you something."

"Sure. Can you do it while we're walking, though? I was heading back to the dorms – I don't usually hang out in dark alleys," Noah joked. "Unless you're staying?"

"No, I was leaving, too. Trying to, anyway." The pair began walking, heading towards the OU campus. "But it seems like you can handle yourself just fine in a dark alley. Did your dad really teach you how to kill someone? That seems kinda… hardcore."

Noah burst into laughter. "I might've exaggerated a little. He is in the Army, and he did show me some moves." Noah smirked. "From the Self-Defense for Women classes he teaches on Tuesday nights. There's no _way _you could steal a purse off of me."

Luke chuckled. "Good to know. Did you forget your purse tonight?"

"Nah, I left it in my room. I heard this part of town was pretty ghetto. I figured I'd be busy enough protecting my virtue."

Luke snorted at the absurd notion that anything in Oakdale could be classified as ghetto. "You _are _a dork!" A thought came to Luke then, and it wasn't a welcome one. "So, the other thing you said. Was that a lie, too?"

Noah looked at Luke in confusion. "What other thing? Oh, not to brag, but I am the best player on the team. I got a full-ride scholarship to OU."

Luke sighed. The guy was just gonna make him say it. "No, the thing about being gay."

Noah's face relaxed in understanding. He didn't reply verbally. Instead, he reached over, and took Luke's hand within his own as they continued walking.

Again, Luke felt the sizzle in that touch. He just wanted to enjoy this. As crazy as it sounded, in his eighteen years he'd never just walked down the street holding someone's hand (at least, not with someone who wasn't his parent).

But Luke's stupid brain wouldn't cooperate. It wanted answers, and it wouldn't stop nudging him until it got them. He withdrew his hand from Noah's.

"Then what the hell happened this morning? We were getting along so well. And then Casey came in and gave me that stupid kiss, and you just clammed up."

"What happened was, Casey came in and gave you that stupid kiss," Noah explained. "When I met you, I thought… we had this spark, like right away. Everything was going great, and then your boyfriend showed up."

"Casey Hughes is _not _my boyfriend! Even if he wasn't straight, that would just be… no. Ugh," Luke shuddered.

"I didn't know that," Noah answered. "All I knew was, I thought something was happening with us, and then this good-looking guy comes in and kisses you. I felt like the biggest idiot…"

"Oh, Noah," Luke bemoaned. "I had no idea! When you got all distant like that, I thought you were homophobic!"

"How could I be gay and homophobic? I'm not a televangelist."

Luke smiled at the joke. "But I didn't know you were gay. I thought you were gonna date Maddie!"

"Oh," Noah offered, incorporating that information. "I forgot about that."

Luke balked. "Wait – you _were _going to date Maddie?"

"No! I just didn't know that she was thinking I might, until I called her to apologize for my behavior. I told her the truth – that I like you, and I just spazzed when I saw you had a boyfriend."

Luke groaned. "Oh geez. How'd she take it?"

Noah grinned. "Pretty well. Once she stopped laughing, which I think took like, twenty minutes. That's when she told me she'd been thinking about asking me out. I don't know which part she thought was funnier: me being gay, me liking you, or me thinking that Casey was your boyfriend."

After a moment, they both began to answer simultaneously,

"Probably Casey-"

"Casey as my-"

They fell silent, and enjoyed a mutual smile, recognizing that the strength of their connection already had them brain-sharing.

"Well, this is me," Noah said as he came to a stop in front of Danbury Hall. "But, can I walk you to your dorm?"

"No," Luke answered, pressing his lips together sheepishly. "I, um, don't actually live on campus. This is my hometown, so I'm still at my parents' house."

"That can't be too far, since you didn't drive. Can I walk you there?"

Luke could feel the blush creeping onto his cheeks. Apart from lying, there was no way to avoid being caught out. For some reason, the thought of being dishonest with this amazing guy was inconceivable.

"The thing is, I have to head back to Yo's. That alley we came out of? To go home, I should've turned left, not right."

Noah's mouth dropped open as he comprehended what had happened. Luke had gone entirely out of his way to walk him home. Noah beamed with the realization.

"That's just… wow. Do you want to come up? I mean, it's Friday, so no getting up early, right?"

Luke's heart skipped a beat. Or twenty. "Won't your roommate mind?"

"Nah," Noah reassured. "He's probably still out. Anyway, Danbury Hall has apartment-style dorms. So we share a living room, but have our own bedrooms."

At Luke's raised eyebrow, Noah quickly tacked on, "Not that you have to go in my bedroom. I just meant, if he wants privacy, he can go in his."

"Okay," Luke said, pretending to ponder the situation. He was no kind of Don Juan, but this felt right, so he worked up the nerve to ask. "What if _we _want privacy?"

"Well then-," Noah broke off as it dawned on him what Luke had really said. "Then, we could go in my room. If you want."

"I want."

Luke couldn't believe his own brazenness, but with Noah, he felt unafraid to take the leap.

"I want, too," Noah whispered, as he drew closer to Luke. "A lot."

Luke held his breath as Noah's face lowered to meet his own. His mind spun on all cylinders knowing he was about to receive his first kiss, on a beautiful night with a beautiful man. Everything else disintegrated, though, when Noah's lips touched his own.

Conscious thought was replaced with pure feeling. It was soft, and warm, and _heaven_. Luke was only aware of how thoroughly transported he'd been when Noah pulled away, bringing him back to Earth.

"Let's go," Noah said softly, wrapping his arm around Luke as they walked inside.

In the morning, Luke awoke slowly, his face nuzzled into Noah's T-shirted chest. They had talked half the night. Well, talked, and made out.

Noah had been the perfect gentleman, expertly reading Luke's body language, and going only as far as Luke was ready for. That had amounted to some petting, touching, and a good deal of kissing. When Noah asked him to stay, Luke didn't even have to think about his answer. _Leaving _would be the problem.

"Spend the weekend with me," Noah murmured.

Luke smiled, thrilled at receiving the invitation he'd hoped for. "Just this weekend?"

Noah knew Luke was joking, but he answered in all seriousness. "This weekend. Next weekend. The one after that. But we'll need to work in some weekdays, too. I can't go all week without seeing you."

"Me either," Luke agreed, snuggling further into Noah. "I kinda wanna see you all the time."

"Even though I'm a dork?"

Luke snickered. "You're not just any dork. You're my _favorite _dork."

Noah's mouth twisted into an amused grin. "Favorite Dork. Is there a prize involved?"

"Just me," Luke replied.

Noah suddenly rolled them over, pinning Luke beneath him, which elicited a giggle from Luke. "Is that all?" He winked, since they both knew he was teasing. "Actually, that's a pretty great prize. I can live with that."

Noah ended further discussion for the moment by abruptly whipping the blanket over both their heads, creating their own little world of just each other. He leaned down to press feathery kisses to the sensitive spot he'd discovered on Luke's neck the previous night. Sighing happily, Luke was sure it was _him _who'd won the prize: the hottest dork in the history of Oakdale U.

_Oh yes_, Luke thought to himself, as he reveled in the bliss of Noah's attentions. _I can live with that. Definitely._


End file.
